Chapter 76
Gun-Ho sat at his desk in front of his computer to sell his stocks .
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"Maybe it's too early . I still have three months until the presidential election . Let's wait a little bit more . "
"Maybe I should sell now . The stock price might drop soon . Who knows? I'd better sell them now while I could still make money . "
Gun-Ho put his hands on the computer keyboard and retrieved his hands off the keyboard repeatedly .
Once the one-day trading curb on EE-HWA Construction stock was lifted, its price started increasing again without a hitch . Sammok-Jeong Company's stock received the same warning as EE-HWA Construction from Korea Exchange .
The presidential election campaign was heating up as the election neared . The stock market was fluctuating abnormally . The presidential candidate, Myung-Bak Lee continuously promoted the Four Major Rivers Project drastically while the opposing candidate, Dong-Young Jeong fiercely attacked the project by asserting that it would cause a disaster in this country . The stock price related to the Four Major Rivers Project kept fluctuating in an unusual pattern .
Gun-Ho felt great about his stock's price which kept increasing, but the abnormal movement of the price scared him as well .
"The stock market is going crazy . The country is going crazy . "
The next day and the following day, the stock price of EE-HWA Construction and Sammok-Jeong Company continued increasing dramatically .
The media covered the abnormal activity of certain stocks including the stocks of EE-HWA Construction and Sammok-Jeong Company . It said that people kept irresponsibly investing in these stocks without knowing the necessary information about the companies . The stock prices kept going up regardless of what they said .
Circuit breakers were triggered in an effort to calm the overheated stock market .
"Whew, let's take a break . "
Gun-Ho opened his stock account . His stock value exceeded 6 billion won . Gun-Ho shivered, and he was having goosebumps . The stock money didn't seem to increase much in the beginning, but once it passes a certain amount it goes up exponentially; it was like a snowball .
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Gun-Ho received a phone call from Min-Ho who he met at Suk-Ho's bar in Gyeongridan Street the other day .
"Gun-Ho? How are you doing? Did you find a job?"
"No, not yet . "
"Then come and meet me at Gwanghwamun Gate tomorrow . "
"For what?"
"We are having a large-scale protest tomorrow against the Four Major Rivers Project . Many civic organizations will join us . You should come too . "
"I don't know…"
"What are you talking about? You should come if you worry about this country! That project will be a disaster . If you are a true Korean, you should come!"
"I think… that project could benefit us . It can help prevent a flood . "
"Ha, you dumb idiot! Because of people like you, a pseudo like MB could get power . Do you know why I am doing all these? I'm not doing this for money because I am not making any by protesting . But I do this for our posterity . Come tomorrow . I won't take no for an answer!"
"I think I gotta do something tomorrow . "
"Do what? Is it more important than preventing disasters? Why can't you see it? We are breathing the same air under the same sky . That's why you don't have a job yet . We have to stop MB's election . The candidate, Dong-Young Jeong must win . "
Gun-Ho suppressed his desire to say 'I want MB to win . '
"Why don't you say anything? You are coming tomorrow, right?"
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"Okay . "
After getting off the phone with Min-Ho, Gun-Ho talked to himself .
"I don't know whether the Four Major Rivers Project would bring a benefit or a disaster to the country . I don't know which candidate among Myung-Bak Lee or Dong-Young Jeong has to win for this country . I am just a stock investor . I have to make money . You have no idea how I had lived my life when I had no money . You have no idea how terribly I had to suffer all these years just because I didn't have money . I must make money . I know you still look down on me from the bottom of your heart . "
Gun-Ho clenched his fist and hit the wall with it .
"I will make money!"
It made a loud noise and Gun-Ho's fish got swollen right away .
Gun-Ho stayed in his office-tel staring at the computer monitor all day long . He didn't even go out . Timing was very important in stocks . The stocks that keep going up abnormally in price like the ones Gun-Ho had, could drop in price in any minute if a group of investors who influence the price decided to sell them .
"Unless I get solid red candlestick, I will keep these stocks!"
Gun-Ho purchased one more computer and monitored the stock market using two computers . He kept the one-minute charts, candlestick charts, and tick charts open on his computer screens and kept observing their movements . When his eyes became blurry, Gun-Ho looked at his eyes in the mirror .
"My eyes are very red . I think the blood vessels in my eyes had burst . "
Gun-Ho rubbed his eyes and waited till 3 PM when the stock market closed before he went to see an eye doctor . The eye doctor examined Gun-Ho's eyes and said,
"You should let your eyes rest . Do not use your computer or read books for a while . All the blood vessels in your eyes had burst . "
While he was receiving an electric thermal eye treatment in the eye doctor's office, he still thought about his stocks .
"I don't have time for this . The stocks related to the Four Major Rivers Project are still on the rise . "
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As soon as he came back to his office-tel, he turned on his computers .
"I know the doctor said I shouldn't use a computer for a while, but it should be okay . I won't lose my sight by this . "
Gun-Ho looked at the stocks charts on EE-HWA Construction and Sammok-Jeong Company .
"The price has been rising so steeply . I guess it could go over 20,000 won per share . I wonder how many people who are holding this stock bought them at the bottom price as I did . "
Newspapers warned the investors about the stocks related to the Four Major Rivers Project . They said the price of those stocks was already too high, and that buying those stocks right now was suicidal . Despite the warnings from media, the price of those stocks continued to increase for the next several days .
"Those people who invested in these stocks will face the same fate as MB . "
Gun-Ho stayed in his office-tel and didn't even bother to shop for groceries or go to a restaurant to eat . He just ate what he had in his refrigerator—rice, kimchi, and pickled radish . He couldn't take his eyes off the stock charts because the price might start going downwards .
"For stocks like this, if some people start to throw out their stocks for some reason, the rest of those people will follow them by selling their stocks without hesitation . So I have to closely watch its movement . A solid red candlestick can appear within five minutes . Once that happens, I will start losing my money rapidly . "
Gun-Ho stared at the computer monitors while putting prescription eye drops in his eyes .
He sometimes laid down on his bed because of the pain in his eyes . He was laying down on his bed to rest his eyes when he heard the news on the TV . He usually kept his TV on even though he didn't really watch it . There was a big accident in the sea near the Taean coastal town . A ship collided with an oil vessel, and it caused the oil to spill into the sea .
Gun-Ho jumped out of the bed .
"What? Oil spill into the ocean? A big accident? A river can be subject to this type of accident, and oil can be spilled in a river . This will adversely affect the stock price related to the Four Major Rivers Project!"
Gun-Ho was certain that people would start selling their stocks related to the Four Major Rivers Project tomorrow morning . The stock price increased a lot, and those people already made money . They wouldn't risk the money they already made from stocks to make more money .
"They will begin selling their stocks during pre-market trading sessions . "
Gun-Ho believed that the people with the stocks related to the Four Major Rivers Project would start selling their stocks before the regular trading hours at 8:30 AM . The regular trading hours started at 9 AM .
Gun-Ho couldn't sleep worrying that he might oversleep and miss the 8:30 AM pre-market trading hours . If that happened, he would lose all the money he invested in stocks .
"If a lot of people sell their stocks, it will cause a downward price movement, and there will be no buyer for a few days then . I wouldn't be able to sell my stocks for a few days and the price will continuously drop!"
Gun-Ho didn't sleep that night and endured the pain in his eyes . It was a long night . He spent the night dozing off in his chair and woke up repeatedly .
In the morning, Gun-Ho turned on his computer .
"It's 8:30 AM . "
He was right . As soon as the pre-market trading session opened, the stocks related to the Four Major Rivers Project poured into the market . It was a heated moment .
Gun-Ho started selling his stocks frantically . He had so many shares and his offering price was going down . The stock price of EE-HWA Construction was once 25,000 won per share and it went down to 24,000 won and then to 23,000 won .
"Sh*t . I pressed the wrong key on the keyboard . I'm modifying the offer!"
Gun-Ho sometimes pressed a wrong key . The speed that other people were selling their stocks was faster than a cooling fan's speed . Once Gun-Ho was done selling all his stocks of EE-HWA Construction and Sammok-Jeong Company, those stock prices started moving downward .
Gun-Ho screamed in pain . His eyes hurt a lot . He covered his eyes with his palm and opened his net account value window .
"The balance is 19 . 8 billion won! The number of stocks is 0 . "
Gun-Ho invested 1 . 1 billion won and made 19 . 8 billion won .
"It's all done!"
He felt drained, and then he passed out on the floor . His computers were still on, and he was still wearing clothes .